Always Buy Retail
by LegendaryHighFive
Summary: What if the episode 'Always Buy Retail' had occurred later in the series and what if the two of them didn't get out unscathed this time? Please tune in to find out! Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello there! Lona here once again, back with some inspiration :) What if the episode "Always Buy Retail" happened later on in the series and what if it happened differently? What if they didn't get out unscathed? Well, tune in here to find out! It's going to be a multi-chapter, and I'll continue depending on the feedback :) So, without further ado..._

_ENJOY!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. If I did, well, I wouldn't be writing this would I?  
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><p>"Am I in trouble?"<p>

"No, but from now on, always buy retail." Castle turned around; spotting the shocked looked upon the woman's face as he did. His eyes settled upon the doorway and he did a double take as a new figure appeared at the doorway. A tall, muscular, African male. Holding a gun, which was pointed towards…Beckett.

Without thinking, he flung himself towards Beckett, twisting himself in front of her as he tackled her safely to the ground, yelling out "Whoa!" as he did. They landed with a thump as his body hit the ground, her body landing on top of him as glass shattered around them as bullets ricocheted into the wine glasses above them. Castle felt a few shards pierce through his bare palms and through the thin material of his coat, but ignored it as he placed his hand lightly upon Beckett's back, guiding her towards the back of the kitchen island, dodging glass shards that continued to rain down upon them.

"Give me the passport." A deep voice rang through the room, oddly calm, given the situation.

"Put down your weapon!" Beckett yelled out, cocking her gun once again as she shook the glass shards quickly out of her hair. Sharing a look with Castle, who looked more concerned for her than he did with his well being, she fought the urge to wipe the glass shards decorating his hair and coat.

"Give me the passport." The man repeated, as more glass shattered above them. Castle moved closer to her, that way, he sheltered her from the glass raining down on them. Thinking quickly, he removed his jacket and fluffed out the shards, wrapping it around Beckett and ignored her confused protests.

"Just in case; don't want any glass getting through your thin shirt. It stings like hell, believe me." He added the last bit to lighten up the mood, if possible, as he shook off the remaining glass on his thin white t-shirt.

Beckett opened her mouth to complain, but closed it immediately as more glass shards trickled down upon them as the intruder released more bullets towards them, repeating his earlier statements.

"Bailer, any minute now this place is going to be crawling with cops. Don't make things worse than they are." Silence welcomed them for all about 2 seconds before back-to-back shots rang out, glass shattering all around them. Castle winced and groaned silently as he felt little pricks of glass stabbing him through his shirt and jeans, but pushed the thoughts all away as he heard Beckett gasp out loud. He reached out slightly, retracting his arm as she shook her head, indicating that she was okay.

"Give me what I want and I walk away." The man's voice was calm as he yelled out through the apartment. Castle accepted the opportunity to get Beckett out unscathed, so he attempted to coerce her.

"I've seen this about a hundred times. We give him what he wants, or it ends badly. And by badly, I mean us dead." _You dead_, Castle thought silently in his head as he looked down at Beckett, just now noticing how close they really were to each other.

"Just stay down."

"You stay down."

"I shoot him from down here."

"That means he can't shoot you either!" Castle's eyes widened slightly; exasperatedly amazed at how she was making excuses for her to stand in range where the man could easily shoot her. His bare arm shot out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him quickly as she raised herself up so view the shooter. Even more glass flew down at them, but he pulled her closer to him, slightly covering her as the rain of shards flew down.

"I can't see him." Her tone was slightly defeated as she was released from his grips, both of them breathing roughly. "I need to get eyes on him somehow." She scooted across towards the lower edge of the island as Castle reached into his back pocket to grab out his phone.

Raising himself slightly, he shot out his arm and took a picture. He regretted the idea as a shot of pain seared through the part of arm that had been shown to the shooter. Beckett's attention switched over to him as he hissed in a shallow breath, seeing a flesh wound from where the shooters bullet had skimmed across his skin.

"Castle!" She reached out to him, but instead, he pulled away, grimacing slightly as he did. He shoved his phone towards her, biting his tongue to keep from groaning, showing her the picture he got, showing the man as he hid behind the foyer entrance.

"I don't have an angle on him from down here." Beckett looked back down at his still bleeding arm. "Castle…"

"I'm fine." Not looking towards her, he looked around and stopped his gaze at the wine cooler.

"I will kill you both!"

Castle moved as he heard the voice and scooted towards the wine cooler. "When we shoot, he shoots; he'll be exposed." He grabbed out the first bottle he would find. "I'll set the pick, you take him down."

"Set the pick with what?" Beckett attempted to slow down her breathing, the adrenaline making it harder for her as the risk in this situation was very dangerous.

"This."

"You're going to get yourself shot!" She hissed. _Again,_ she thought as she watched him quickly unravel the champagne cap, wincing as he moved his injured arm where the blood was continuing to trickle. "Castle, your arm."

"Just be ready." He scooted away quickly from her, ignoring her worried statement about his arm. All he wanted to do was to get her out of there unharmed, and if he needed to take a risk, then so be it.

Castle knelt by the edge of the island, quickly getting the man into his view. He stood up and watched as the man's gaze instantly shot towards Beckett as glass broke underneath her feet. Castle shot up, shooting the cork at the man, desperately trying to get the man's attention away from the unsuspecting woman who was only feet away from the barrel of the gun.

Two shots rang out through the room. Two of the three people in the room collapsed to the ground.

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><p><em>DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN :D Well, I hope you like it and I hope that you won't want to kill me :P I also hope that you want more and will review and let me know what you think of it! Ideas and criticism, good or bad, is welcome! <em>

_Thanks for reading :)_

_-Lona  
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	2. Chapter 2

_Hello there! Lona here once again, back with some inspiration :) Even though I only got like 2 reviews last chapter, I got alot of Story and Author alets and that just warmed my heart :) And now, without further ado, I will go run off and hide while you read!_

_ENJOY!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. If I did, well, I wouldn't be writing this would I?  
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><p>Beckett's emerald eyes widened as she felt herself step on a piece of glass, her heels causing the glass to break and Bailer's eyes to divert to her. It felt as though she was watching from another person's point-of-view as she saw the barrel of the gun rise and point itself towards her as she froze in place.<p>

Before she could blink, the gun of the barrel was pointed to someone else he quickly shot whatever had caught his attention. Thinking quickly, she raised her gun and shot the man. Not even watching as he fell down, her eyes moved to the other side of the room where the other bullet had been shot and gasped as time slowed down. Blue eyes met hers for a fraction of a second before they were squeezed shut in pain. Her eyes settled on the blood spot that was quickly growing on his abdomen and she stood frozen momentarily as she watched him fall to his knees, grasping uselessly at the kitchen island, his grip slipping as he fell. All these events happened in less than a minute, but to Katherine Beckett, it seemed as though time stood still.

Shaking her head, she slid over quickly, dropping her gun on the kitchen island as she did. Beckett knelt down painfully next to Castle's crumpled body allowing her to hear his ragged breathing. She had been shot before, and she knew how much it hurt. Initially, you don't feel a thing, but then, all at once, you feel a searing pain rip through your entire being. The area, especially, hurt like hell. You feel as though your body is trying to rid of the offending metal by ripping it out of you and whatever it came in contact with. Her hands reached out, shaking slightly as they gently moved his out of the way and she had to swallow down the bile threatening to rise in her throat. Beckett stood up quickly and made her way into the kitchen, quickly grabbing scissors and returning to the ground where Castle laid. Grabbing his thin t-shirt in her hand, she cut the shirt and carefully removed it from him, without moving him to prevent further injury.

Beckett couldn't help but feel responsible that he was hurt, even if she didn't tell him to do it, she knew that he just wanted to get both of them out in one piece.

"Stop that."

Beckett looked down with wide eyes at the sound of his gruff voice. "What?"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Her voice had a tint of annoyance that he wouldn't just get to the point.

"Blaming yourself. None of this is your fault."

The expression on her face matched somewhat to a fish as she attempted to grasp for words, none of which accepted to come her way. Squaring her jaw, she silently cleared her throat and pressed down upon his wound, waiting for the backup she asked for long ago. She bit her tongue as she felt his body tense up immediately as a strained plead escaped through his clench teeth. After a few moments, his now pale face opened its eyelids to bloodshot blue eyes as they swept over her.

"Are you okay?"

Beckett almost laughed at the irony of the question that emerged from Castle's slightly blue lips.

"Am I okay? Castle, look at you!"

"I can't." The pout that made its way upon the grown man's lips made the corner of her lip twitch as a smile threatened to emerge.

The detective opened her mouth to say something again, but stopped as she looked down to see that Castle's eyes had closed.

"Castle. Castle, open your eyes. You need to keep them open, come on." Pressing down harder with her left hand, she reached up with her right hand and patted him softly on his lightly stubbly cheek.

"It hurts." The small reply almost made Beckett do a double-take. He sounded like a little kid that got a boo-boo and scraped his knee.

"I know. Castle, you just need to hold on." Her eyes began to sting as she felt him take in a shuddery breath, his face now pale and the puddle of blood increased exponentially beneath the two of them, not slowing down. From a distance, she could faintly hear the sounds of an approaching ambulance and police cars. "They're almost here, Castle."

When she received no reply, Beckett looked down to see his eyes open and looking at her, but the eyes were vacant. Neither emotion nor pain was shown, only a vacant stare as the blue eyes pierced through her.

"Castle?" She patted his cheek once again, and kept her hand there, softly shaking his head as she repeated his name, this time the urgency growing as he didn't respond.

"Rick. Come on, stay with me. They are almost here." Receiving no reply, her eyes began to tear up even further, her vision clouding slightly as she fumbled to find a pulse.

Well, she tried to find a pulse. A pulse that was not there.

The living room was soon crowded, but Beckett made no acknowledgement to it as she began CPR on her partner of 3 years in the middle of the trashed room. Chanting his name as she did it, though no tear found its way out of her, she couldn't let that happen. If a tear fell, that meant that hope was lost and there was no chance in hell that he will die.

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><p><em>Don't kill me! *cowers* I also hope that you want more and will review and let me know what you think of it! Ideas and criticism, good or bad, is welcome! <em>

_Thanks for reading :)_

_-Lona_


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